


Kiss Me and Tell Me You Love Me Before I Go

by DNAGraceless



Category: Conviction (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Innuendo, Makeup Kisses, Mention of blood, and stabby - ness, hayes has a dirty mind, sads
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-30
Updated: 2016-12-02
Packaged: 2018-09-03 06:34:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8701258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DNAGraceless/pseuds/DNAGraceless
Summary: The women of CIU sneak into a property to examine a crime scene, and everything is going fine until everything goes horribly horribly wrong.Sad with a happy ending





	1. Chapter 1

The gravel crunched under the tires of the old black car as it drove down the old road towards the isolated double story house and barn, not so much as a crop or fence in sight, in fact nothing stood on the abandoned farmstead till the dirt fields and dead grass met the tree line at the back of the property. Looking around, they were surrounded by trees, albeit the forest being barely more than a silhouette in distance, the moon being the only witness to the groups late night endeavour.  

“This is a really bad idea.” Tess mumbled in the backseat, wringing her sleeve.

“It’ll be fine,” Maxine assured her as she drove closer and closer to the looming buildings. They looked so ominous in the midnight moonlight.  “We’ll go in, have a look around, and be out before the next cop check-in,”  
“That’s barely an hour away,”  
“We need this evidence,” Hayes reminded her.

“How are we going to explain having evidence against Tregear if we had to trespass to get it?” Tess questioned.

“Anonymous tip. Hunch. Depends on what we find. We’ll think of something.”  
Maxine stopped the car and they got out, Tess joining the other two at the boot. Maxine handed each of them a flashlight. All three wore black clothes, and the fact that Hayes owned a jacket with a hood surprised Tess for some reason. She tried not to stare, not now that Hayes could see her.

“So how are we doing this?” Maxine asked, “Together or split up? One in the barn, the house, and the field,”  
“No; you and Tess take the house. I’ll take the barn. We’ll meet in the field in half an hour. Sound good?”  
Maxine and Tess nodded, and Hayes shut the boot, heading in their separate direction.

Hayes’ flashlight slid over the straw scattered across the bottom of the barn, making her way to the back underneath where the girl had been found strung from the rafters. The crime scene had been gruesome. Hayes allowed a quick moment for sympathy for the field hand who had found her.

Her flashlight found the beam, dirty rope severed where they had cut her down. Grabbing a rusted pitchfork hanging from a nail she began moving around the straw, eyes searching and scanning for anything. Removing a thick, damp layer revealed a retched stench and nothing else.

“Brilliant,” Hayes muttered. Throwing down the pitch fork she found stairs near the back wall and headed up, pushing loose hair out of her face.

The second story wasn’t as high up as Hayes had imagined it would be. She’d been in barns before, and she knew they were usually higher than the barely three metres the platform rested off the ground.

“That seems dangerous,” Hayes breathed out looking over the railing-less edge. Turning around, she took careful calculated steps, her flashlight searching. The sight came as such a shock her flashlight passed right over it before returning, both of them freezing.   
Hayes felt the cold shock run through her body at the sight of the young man, covered in blood, huddled in the corner, the body of a young woman between them.

Hayes ran for the stairs, but the man was faster, grabbing her around the waist and throwing her onto the platform. Hayes heard the wood creak below her. She rolled onto her side and looked for something to use for a weapon. The man lunged, sitting on her waist as Hayes grabbed the flashlight and swung it at his face, throwing him off her. Hayes went to stand, but he grabbed her leg pulling her back.

_‘Definitely not Tregear,’_ Hayes thought as she kicked him in the face. The man grabbed her head and smashed it against the floor. She saw stars, everything blurring, and felt herself being moved. Her senses returned as the man pushed her off the edge. The brief feeling of falling was violently ended as Hayes hit the ground.

But she didn’t just hit the ground. She felt sharp pains in her lower side, and thought she may have shattered something until her shaking hand felt around the area, wrapping around the cold spike of the pitchfork.

 

Everything went dull to the sound of footsteps, and sharpened again as two shots shattered the peaceful night. It felt like an eternity before Maxine and Tess arrived at her side.

“Oh God Hayes,”

She felt hands on her throat and Maxine say something about a heart rate.

“Hayes, Hayes can you hear me? What happened?”  
“He… He pushed me…” She managed through the pain.

“I’m calling an ambulance,” Maxine said, pulling out her phone. “Shit. There’s no signal.”  
“What should we do?” Tess asked urgently, desperately trying to stay calm.

“I’m going to drive until I get a signal, you stay here with her.”  
“What? Shouldn’t I go?”  
“Tess we don’t have time to argue. Take this,” Maxine gave Tess her gun and Hayes would have laughed at the expression on her face is she wasn’t bleeding out on a rusty pitchfork.

Maxine took off and Tess took a breath to calm down, before taking off her jacket and putting pressure on the wound. She put the flashlight on her phone on for a bit of extra light, and winced at the sight of the blood coating Hayes’ hands.

“You’re gonna be okay,” She said softly, pushing Hayes’ hair out of her face.

“You’re a bad liar Tinkerbell.”  
“I’m not lying.”  
“It doesn’t fucking feel okay Tess,” She said trying to pull the spike out.

“No, you can’t do that. You’ll lose a lot more blood if you pull it out.”  
“You want to just leave it in? Are you fucking kidding me?!”  
“Hayes, if you pull it out you’ll-” Tess couldn’t say it, swallowing thickly.

“I can’t believe this. All the stupid shit I do and this is how I’ll die.”  
“You won’t die,” Tess said, her tone firm, but her voice shaking, Hayes’ bloody hand resting just an inch from her own. Tears welled in her eyes. “You’ll be okay. The hospital is on the edge of town they’ll be here soon.”  
Hayes didn’t say anything, concentrating on her increasingly painful breathing. Her lungs were on fire.

“Tess,” Hayes said, the word bursting from her throat. “I’m sorry.”  
“Why?”  
“This was a stupid idea. I shouldn’t… I shouldn’t have asked you to come,”  
“It’s not your fault-”

“And for the fight. I shouldn’t have started it, I’m sorry.”  
Tess felt the tears falling, her throat burning and she gasped for breath.

“It’s not your fault,” She repeated tearfully. “I shouldn’t have pressured you-”

“Tess?”  
“Yes?”  
“I do love you,” And she smiled, and Tess had to smile back. “I didn’t think I’d ever get to say that,” she added quietly. Tess stroked her hair out of her face, leaving a streak of blood across her forehead. She leaned down and kissed her girlfriend’s cold lips, tears slipping off her cheeks onto Hayes’.

“I love you too Hayes.”

Hayes gives a weak smile as her eyes droop.

“No. No, Hayes! Hayes you have to keep your eyes open. Maxine will be back any minute okay you have to keep your eyes open. Hayes. Please. Hayes come on, open your eyes.” Tess begged, holding her face in her hands. She flinched as the barn door swung open, blinking away her tears to see Maxine rush in, followed by two women and a stretcher.

“The ambulance. Hayes it’s the medics, come on you have to wake up,”

“Excuse me miss,” She heard one of the medics say, before feeling arms wrap around her and pull her up. The medics worked fast and efficiently at removing the pitchfork and putting Hayes into the ambulance.

Maxine grabbed a blanket and bottle of water from the boot as the cops closed off the area, soaking a cloth in water and cleaning the blood off Tess’ hands and wrapped the blanket around her shoulders.

Tess stared blankly ahead, her hands shaking so badly Maxine was having trouble cleaning them.

“Tess. Hey, you gonna be alright?”  
Tess dragged her eyes up to look at her, staring blankly as she tried to think of something to say.

“Come on,” Maxine strapped her into the passenger seat, “We’ll go to the hospital and wait.”

 

Tess said, not saying to doing anything for the next seven hours, just staring at the wall as the sun rose outside. When she did speak, Maxine jumped in her seat beside her.

“We had a fight.” Her voice was weak and hoarse, but it was good to hear.

“What?”  
“Right before the case. We had a fight. I told her I loved her, and she freaked out. I don’t even remember what we argued about. I don’t even remember what we argued about, and she could die.”  
“She won’t die.” Maxine said firmly. “She’s too stubborn to die.”  
Tess let out a shaky breath. “That was the last thing she said. If she dies, the last thing she’ll say is that she loves me. I don’t…” Her voice shook, and Maxine wrapped and arm around her as she started to cry in earnest. “I want to hear her say it again.”  
Maxine held her until her breathing calmed and the tears slowed. Her phone started to ring and Maxine sighed.

“I gotta take this. I’ll be right back okay, just breath.”  
Tess nodded and Maxine disappeared down the hallway.

Tess slipped her phone out of her pocket, slightly surprised it was still there. Going to her camera roll one auto-pilot she found the second file from the top. She scrolled until she found her favourite picture, the one she’d set as her wallpaper, the one of her and Hayes in bed during a rainstorm. She didn’t know why it was her favourite. Maybe because Hayes didn’t like having her picture taken too often, or because it was such a good day, lazing about together, but either way Tess found solace staring at the happy picture.

“Miss Larson?”  
Tess flinched, almost dropping her phone. She looked up to see Jackson standing a few feet away.

“Have you heard anything?”  
Tess shook her head. “No. They haven’t come out yet,”

Jackson sighed and sat next to the seat Maxine had been in.   
“What happened?”  
Tess bit her lip. She didn’t want to explain. She didn’t want to relive.

“She was attacked.” Tess and Maxine both looked up at Maxine. “Stabbed with a pitchfork. Wounds weren’t too deep but she’s in surgery.”  
“How long is this going to take?” Tess asked, exhaustion deep in her bones.

“It shouldn’t be that much longer,” Maxine assured her, sitting next to her.

Tess ran her thumb back and forth over her phone screen, watching the minutes tick by. An hour passed and the three looked up as a doctor entered the hall.

“Ms Bohen? Mr Morrison?”  
Both stood. Tess didn’t trust her legs enough to join them.

“How is she?” Jackson asked.

“Is she okay?” Maxine asked at the same time.

“It was a difficult surgery, and her wounds were infected when she arrived, but we’ve managed to clean her up and the surgery was a success.”  
“So she’s okay?” Jackson asked.

“She’ll be just fine,” the doctor confirmed.

“Can we see her?” Tess asked.

“We’ll move her to her own room and send a nurse to retrieve you. It shouldn’t take too long.”  
They thanked him and Maxine sat back down, wrapping an arm around Tess’ shoulders.

“See? She’s gonna be fine.”  
Tess nodded and let it sink in.

“I’m gonna call Sam and Frankie, let them know what happened.” Maxine told her, standing up.

“I better call my mother and Wallace, try to keep this quiet.”  
“Your mother doesn’t know?” Tess questioned.

“She didn’t answer.” Jackson admitted, walking off.

“You want some coffee or something?” Maxine offered. “I’m gonna go for a quick walk, stretch my legs, call Ashton.”

“No thanks. I think I’m just gonna get cleaned up, wait here,”  
“Okay, let me know if you change your mind,”  
With Tess’ assurance that she would Maxine left the building and Tess looked for the nearest rest room.

God she looked like an idiot, all dressed in black, but at least she couldn’t see Hayes’ blood on her clothes.

Turning on the tap she let the water fill her hands before splashing her face a few times with the cold water. She rubbed her cold arms and ran her hands through her messy hair and wiping off what little remained of her makeup. Her legs ached stiffly as she walked back to the waiting room, almost giving out twice. She was surprised to see Frankie there waiting. She hadn’t thought she had been gone that long.

“Hey,” Frankie said, standing up when he saw her. “You okay?”  
Tess nodded, “Yeah. She… she’s gonna be okay.”

Maxine walked up to them, handing Frankie a cup of coffee. “You feeling better?” She asked Tess, who nodded, giving a reassuring smile.   
“Excuse me?”

They turned around to see the nurse smiling politely.

“Are you here for Miss Morrison?”  
“Yeah,” Maxine said, “Has she woken up yet?”  
“It shouldn’t be too much longer. You’re welcome to wait with her.”  
“I’ll text Jackson and be right in,” Maxine offered. Tess nodded and he and Frankie followed the nurse down the hallway where Hayes unconscious.

“Now we wait,” Frankie said. Tess sat in the chair beside Hayes’ bed, and waited.

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tess keeps vigil until Hayes wakes up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha I just realised that what happened to Hayes is slightly paralleled to what happens to Peggy in the second season. oops. This wasn't even my original plan, but it just went this way.
> 
> I was thinking about doing an epilogue where Sam is head of the CIU until Hayes comes back and Maxine and Frankie tease Tayes.  
> Let me know what you guys think!

Tess sat in the hard chair, staring at pale woman in the hospital bed. They’d been waiting for twenty three painfully slow minutes after the nurse said she should wake up, and there was still no sign of movement.  
Twenty five minutes  
Thirty minutes  
Thirty seven minutes  
Forty four minutes  
Sixty one minutes  
Tess sighed, forced reassurances running through her head.  
She’ll be okay. She went through surgery, she’s just tired. She’ll be okay.  
Two long hours passed, and the exhaustion sinking into Tess was becoming painful to bare. She hadn’t gotten any sleep in over forty eight hours, and hardly any before that. In fact, she hadn’t slept properly at all since Saturday night, right before she told Hayes she loved her.  
At least she’d said it. And Hayes had said it, and she’d be okay. She’d wake up soon and they could go home.  
The door swung open and Tess looked over, expecting to see a doctor or nurse or even Hayes’ mother or father, neither of which had answered their phones even when Jackson had called.  
Instead there was Sam.  
“Sorry,” He said, moving to stand beside Maxine, “I just got back from Queens. Has she woken up yet?”  
“Not yet,” Maxine sighed. “The doctor said it would only be a matter of time.”  
Tess looked up, feeling her hand on her shoulder.  
“You really should get something to eat,” Maxine said gently.  
“I’m fine,” Tess insisted. Maxine didn’t believe her, but she didn’t push.  
“I’m gonna get some air,” Maxine said, stretching. “You want coffee or something?”  
Tess shook her head, repeating “I’m fine,”  
Maxine, Sam and Jackson trickled out of the room, and Tess saw Frankie kneel beside her in the corner of her eye.  
“You know she’s gonna be okay right? It’s not that unusual for people to take a while to wake up. She’s probably just exhausted. You are too. You can’t spend all day sitting here, you gotta look after yourself.”  
Tess didn’t answer for a long minute, the words taking longer to gather as they scattered at every attempt to voice them.  
“I… I can’t eat. I can’t leave until she wakes up. I watched my aunt die and then Hayes was just lying there and there was so much blood…”  
Frankie pulled her into a hug, rubbing her back and trying to calm her down as she started hyperventilating. Watching your aunt die as a kid would have been a nightmare, but watching a friend shoot a guy to death, and then try to stop your girlfriend dying as she bleeds out in your arms would have sent any normal person into a meltdown, and Frankie knew Tess’ wouldn’t end until Hayes woke up.  
“Okay,” Frankie pulled back, looking Tess in the eye, “I’m gonna go get you something to drink, and you can stay here. Talk to her, it might help wake her up.”  
Tess nodded and sniffled. Frankie stood, took off his jacket, wrapped it around Tess’ shoulders and left the room. 

Hayes’ hand was cold as Tess wrapped hers around it. Her chest rose and fell with the air forced into her lungs by the cannula.  
Just a precaution, the nurse had said, we almost lost her a few times in surgery.  
“Please wake up,” Tess started softly, “You have to wake up Hayes.” Tess brushed some hair out of her face, half expecting to see the trail of blood she’d left last night. She continued to brush her hair back as she spoke.  
“I’m sorry I kicked you out. I… I got worked up. You told me, about how you were scared that you’d ruin everything. I thought that’s what you were doing when you didn’t say it back, so I just… threw you out before you could. I’m so sorry Hayes. Please wake up. I love you Hayes. And I’d really like to hear you say it again,”  
Her voice hook, her throat was tight, but she pushed on.  
“I miss you. I know it’s only been a few hours but it feels like it’s been forever. Everyone’s being really supportive, the whole teams here. I n-”  
Tess froze as she felt Hayes’ hand twitch in her own.  
“Hayes? Can you hear me?” She stroked Hayes’ cheek, and felt her lean ever so slightly into her touch. She sat, talking, stroking her hair until Hayes’ eyelashes began to flutter, slowly opening to reveal brown and red tinged eyes.  
“Hayes?” Tess ventured nervously.  
“Tess,” She breathed, her voice raspy from disuse and weak from pain.  
“Hey,” Tess said, moving to sit on the bed beside her, still clasping her hand, “how do you feel?”  
“Never better,” Hayes said, forcing a small. Tess’ face broke into a huge relieved smile, and she leaned down, kissing her short but sweet.  
Just like you, Hayes would say, the once condescending and sarcastic jab in the remark shifted into a façade that Hayes used to cover up the fact she was semi-complementing Tess.  
“I’m gonna get the doctor, okay? I’ll be right back,” Tess hurried off to get the doctor, and Hayes fought the fog in her head, trying to stay awake. She wanted to be there when Tess came back. She wanted to see her. She wanted to say it again. 

“Three days of observation, if she’s cleared she can go home after that.” Jackson explained.  
“She’s going to love that,” Tess muttered sarcastically. It wasn’t that Hayes didn’t love doing nothing; she just preferred to do nothing in her own bed in her own time. 

“You’re being quiet,”  
“I’m dying,” Hayes moaned into her pillow.  
“As if you’d go quietly,” Jackson shot back.  
“Shut up. Everything hurts.”  
“You should have stayed at the hospital.”  
“I don’t want to move.”  
“Is the medication helping?”  
“I want morphine,”  
“You get painkiller. Sit up; I’ll get you some more.”  
Hayes moaned as Tess helped her up into a sitting position on the lounge.  
“Are you sure you don’t want to go back to the hospital?” Tess asked, continuing to brush back Hayes’ hair. She was still pale, bags forming under her eyes and her hair growing tangled and messy. She needed a shower, but there was no chance of getting her off the lounge until she took her medication, and even then they only had a short window until she’d pass out.  
Jackson gave her to pills and water and Hayes took a minute before forcing them down, returning to her lying position, her head on Tess’ lap as she played with her hair. Jackson fixed her blanket and Tess felt her slowly stop shaking as the medicine took effect.  
Jackson headed to bed soon after, and Tess switched the channel until she found a dinosaur documentary special five minutes in.  
“Are you feeling better?” Tess asked, gently trying to smooth out her hair.  
“A bit,”  
“Do you want to try and eat something?”  
“I wanna stab Nathan Henderson with a pitchfork,”  
Tess cringed at the name. Nathan Henderson had been found responsible and charged for the murders of Cassie Murdock and Melissa Black, and the attempted murder on Hayes Morrison, only to be shot dead by Maxine Bohen as he tried to flee the scene. She’d never forget that name.  
The knowledge that Henderson had actually killed and butchered another girl that night seemed to make it worse what he had done to Hayes, as though it erased any doubt of his intentions. Tess was just grateful that he hadn’t used the large knife he’d rushed at her and Maxine with on Hayes.  
“Do you want to go to bed?”  
“No, I don’t want to sleep I’ve been sleeping all week.”  
“What do you want to do?”  
“I wanna stop feeling like someone stabbed me in the side with a fucking pitchfork. Who the fuck even does that?”  
Tess didn’t answer.  
“How’s work?” Hayes asked.  
Tess shrugged, even though Hayes couldn’t see it. “Wallace is going easy on Sam. I think he wants to make sure he knows this is only temporary. I think Sam’s trying too hard to be like you.”  
“Never thought I’d hear that,”  
“You’re a good boss. I think he’s realised that. He’s trying to be like you and Wallace is trying to get him to play it safe. He’s having trouble finding balance. Maxine is backing him up but it’s not really working out that well.”  
“How the case going?”  
“Frustrating, but I think that’s because everyone’s just a bit shaken up. It’ll be better when you get back,”  
“Hopefully it’ll just be this week,”  
Tess frowned, “Hayes; you won’t be able to come back next week. It’s already been four days and you still feel terrible. You aren’t going to be able to work in the next week. It’ll be another two weeks at least.”  
Hayes moaned loudly in frustration, rolling onto her back so she was staring at the roof.  
“Tess?”  
“Yes?”  
“I feel really, really terrible,”  
“I know sweetheart,”  
“Make it stop,” She rolled into Tess’ stomach.  
“I wish I could, Hayes,” She leaned down, kissing Hayes’ cheek. Hayes rolled back, looking up at Tess with her sad, begging eyes, and Tess leaned down, kissing Hayes softly, gently threading her fingers through Hayes’ thick hair.  
“How do you feel now?” Tess asked. Hayes gave her a small smirk.  
“I think I could try eating something now.”  
Tess tried to smother her with a pillow.  
“You aren’t funny.”  
“I’m hilarious,”  
“You need a shower,”  
“I need a kiss,”  
Tess kissed her, then stood up. “You need a shower. It’ll make you feel better.”  
Hayes let Tess pull her up and pulled her into another kiss.  
"I love you,"  
"I love you too. Now shower."  
Hayes went off while she could still move her legs. In a moment of coherency she almost felt like her normal, pre-pitchfork-to-the-side self.  
Two weeks her ass.


	3. Chapter 3

Sam jumped off the table as the elevator door slid open, holding his breath, until he saw Hayes and Tess walking out.

“She’s here,” He told Maxine and Frankie. Both looked up, returning to their spots by his side.

“Oh thank God,” They both muttered. Sam glared at both of them and they each took a step back.

“Welcome back,” Frankie said as they arrived in the conference room. “Happy to be back?”  
“Happy to be out of the apartment,” Hayes answered, taking her spot at the head of the table. Her movements were slow, deliberate, and she was giving off a very ‘casual Monday’ vibe, but Maxine figured she could forgive it. Her suits and skirts were set aside for jeans and a jacket.

“How do you feel?” Maxine asked.

“Never better,” Hayes said in a tone that suggested she was very much over that question. “What case have you picked?”

Sam, Maxine and Frankie exchanged looks before Frankie picked up several files, pitching the cases. Hayes decided one involving the death of a fourteen year old boy and she sent them off.

As Sam and Maxine left to talk to the man currently serving time, he gave a small sigh of relief at handing the reigns back.

Things were back to normal.

  


The case went smoothly, almost without a single hitch which Sam found both relaxing and a tad unsettling. His bubble of contentment was shattered when Hayes called him into her office right before he left that Friday night.

“Everything okay?” He asked.

“How were the cases Sam?” Hayes turned to look at him, leaning against her desk. “Did you have fun in charge? Running the team like you were supposed to? You shouldn’t let that go to your head you know,”  
Sam raised an eyebrow but attempted to keep the mood light. “I could say the same to you,”  
Hayes smiled and Sam knew he was in for it.

“Hmm. Do you know what it’s like Sam? To fall from a second story and be stabbed at the same time?”

Sam didn’t answer for a moment, before shaking his head slowly. “Can’t say I do,”  
“Huh.” She pushed herself off her desk, walking over to stand next to him. “Well, speak to Tess like that again, and you’ll find out.”  
With a smile and a painful smack on the back she left, and Sam stood frozen until he was sure she was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I'm gonna write a bit more, probably just a bit of Tayes fluff, but I thought I'd post this while I had it. Let me know if theres any Tayes things you'd like to see in this verse or just a stand alone fic. Hope you like it!

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! Let me know if you want another chapter and I'll get on it


End file.
